BoxRec

Hamzah Sheeraz will be permitted a voluntary defense of his WBO title

WBO super middleweight champion Hamzah Sheeraz will be permitted a voluntary defense of his title, WBO president Gustavo Olivieri has confirmed to BS.

Sheeraz, 23-0-1 (19 KOs), claimed the vacant WBO strap with a third-round stoppage against the overmatched Alem Begic in May on the Egypt bill topped by Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight bout with Rico Verhoeven. Sheeraz made light work of Begic, hardly getting out of first gear in the win, and due to that a quick turnaround was on the cards. BS reported earlier this month that Sheeraz was in play to feature on the undercard of Anthony Joshua-Kristian Prenga on July 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Per WBO regulations of world championship contests, Sheeraz has up to 180 days (six months) after winning the title to discharge a mandatory title defense obligation unless otherwise determined by the WBO championship committee. Sixty days prior to the mandatory, Sheeraz should be notified of the mandatory obligation.

Who should he fight?

There was rumours that he would fight on AJ's Saudi card.. but that seems short notice.

Eubank Jr? Chris is still a good talker.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 05:46 Who should he fight?

There was rumours that he would fight on AJ's Saudi card.. but that seems short notice.

On the Itauma card ? FW promising an explosive co main event

tony1234 wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 07:56

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 05:46 Who should he fight?

There was rumours that he would fight on AJ's Saudi card.. but that seems short notice.

On the Itauma card ? FW promising an explosive co main event

Just seen that tweet.

Hmm..

But who against ?

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 08:10

tony1234 wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 07:56

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 05:46 Who should he fight?

There was rumours that he would fight on AJ's Saudi card.. but that seems short notice.

On the Itauma card ? FW promising an explosive co main event

Just seen that tweet.

Hmm..

But who against ?

I may be a pessimist, but I expect to be underwhelmed and disappointed. Hope that's not the case, but ...

MPW wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 08:15

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 08:10

tony1234 wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 07:56

On the Itauma card ? FW promising an explosive co main event

Just seen that tweet.

Hmm..

But who against ?

I may be a pessimist, but I expect to be underwhelmed and disappointed. Hope that's not the case, but ...

im not too convinced as well..

Denzil Bentley move up a weight?

It'll be Bank, I reckon.

Resendiz would be a good choice if he hadn't fought so recently. A good yardstick compared to Munguia.

Otherwise it's a rematch with Berlanga

Taansend wrote: ↑26 Jun 2026, 12:58 It'll be Bank, I reckon.

Resendiz would be a good choice if he hadn't fought so recently. A good yardstick compared to Munguia.

Otherwise it's a rematch with Berlanga

As much as I'd like to see Berlanga get throttled again, he shouldn't get anywhere within a stone's throw of a world title fight without having bought a ticket.

TWO WORLD TITLE FIGHTS

The undercard for Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga is set

Hamzah Sheeraz vs Simon Zachenhuber - WBO super middleweight title

Josh Kelly vs Caoimhin Agyarko - IBF junior middleweight title

#JoshuaPrenga | July 25th | Exclusively on DAZN

Tbf to Hamzah, prior to the Begic farce they were matching him with some good fighters one after the other so you can’t really begrudge him another stay busy fight.

That said, I can’t help but feel that this fight is taking another 6 month chunk out of his prime to no real purpose. He’s a budding superstar, 27 years old with KO power, technically sound, big fan base, talks well, looks good ….. it’d be such a shame if he wastes any more of his prime
years treading water hoping for a call from Canelo

Horrible PPV as usual , bit of a mickey take

CaptainSpacerod wrote: ↑13 Jul 2026, 11:04 it’d be such a shame if he wastes any more of his prime years treading water hoping for a call from Canelo

Exactly what I was thinking.

Supermiddle is one of the strongest divisions around at the moment. I'd much rather Sheeraz, Iglesias, Munguia, Bank, Mbilli, Martinez, Pacheco, Bully & the rest all fight each other instead of forming an orderly line waiting for a Canelo payout.

second opponent in a row sheeraz has fought someone ive never even heard of , what trash

Taansend wrote: ↑13 Jul 2026, 12:18

CaptainSpacerod wrote: ↑13 Jul 2026, 11:04 it’d be such a shame if he wastes any more of his prime years treading water hoping for a call from Canelo

Exactly what I was thinking.

Supermiddle is one of the strongest divisions around at the moment. I'd much rather Sheeraz, Iglesias, Munguia, Bank, Mbilli, Martinez, Pacheco, Bully & the rest all fight each other instead of forming an orderly line waiting for a Canelo payout.

Agreed and notwithstanding the fact that Hamzah seems to be one of Turki’s favourites it seems unlikely that an ageing Canelo would agree to fight a naturally bigger one punch KO artist like Sheeraz regardless of how much money Turki dangles in front of him

canelo has fought all sorts of elite fighters. sheeraz is good but lets not go crazy, he wasnt any better than carlos adames and most had him losing that.

sheeraz would be a perfectly good opponent for canelo, true, but unless turki is willing to pay an extra big load for him specifically, there is just nothing about sheeraz that would make him especially alluring beyond what the other handful of good smws would be (not an really popular name, already has a record blemish, no 'beef' etc), hence he has to get in line.

canelo's next opponent mbili is just as credible as sheeraz and has plenty of knockouts himself

Never heard of him. Judging by his record he's fcukin shite. If he does fight again, later in the year, and against a credible opponent, then at least you could say he has stayed busy. If, as likely, its another 6 months plus, then its a waste of time.

Almost unheard of now for world level fighters, who arent japanese, to fight 3 times a year.

This is an awful fight. The WBO are like the old WBU

I spose I'd rather him stay busy than nothing, but gotta be a danger Sheeraz goes a bit soft fighting cans..

Jacob Bank dominating and becoming the first and so far only man to stop William Scull

Bank returns on the Joshua-Prenga undercard in an 8 Rounder against Pawel August (who beat Simon Zachenhuber in April)

fighting pawel august's leftovers lol

Sir, Sheeraz is entitled to discharge a voluntary defense according to WBO Rules. Team Sheeraz SELECTED Zachenhuber, who currently holds a pro record of 29-1-0 (18 KO’s). Furthermore, the latter satisfies the basic criteria for world-rating consideration. See, the ABC Criteria for Ratings.

yes team sheeraz handpicking him makes it look a lot better doesnt it

Dont forget to scream Canelo payday after this trash omg